The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) denounced protests organized by the Israeli extreme right in front of the agency’s headquarters in East Jerusalem, describing them as “intimidation and sabotage,” while Jordan condemned these protests, considering them a “challenge to international law.”
The agency’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a tweet on the
He added, “This happened against the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem under Israeli police surveillance, and this has nothing to do with freedom of expression.”
Scenes documenting the attempt of dozens of settlers to storm the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in #Jerusalem Occupied#Gaza_War #video pic.twitter.com/3bTJmlSkj7
– Tel Aviv Tribune Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) May 8, 2024
In a similar context, UNRWA said that its buildings in the Gaza Strip had been subjected to 368 attacks since the start of the war.
She added that 429 displaced people were martyred while searching for shelter in the agency’s buildings since the start of the war on Gaza.
It is noteworthy that during the recent period, the extreme right in Israel organized protests in front of the UNRWA headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem to demand the closure of all its headquarters in the city, the most recent of which occurred yesterday evening, Tuesday, when protesters attacked the headquarters gate and tried to storm it.
This comes in response to a call by Aryeh King, deputy mayor of the Israeli municipality in West Jerusalem, who called for the protests to continue until all UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem are closed.
Jordan condemns
On Wednesday, Jordan condemned in the “strongest terms” the attack by Israeli extremists on Tuesday on the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, considering it “a challenge to international law that stipulates the protection of United Nations facilities.”
In a statement, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs held Israel, as the occupying power, responsible for protecting the headquarters and employees of international and relief organizations concerned with providing humanitarian aid to civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza.
It also renewed its call on the international community to “take immediate and effective action to enforce the application of the rules of international law and international humanitarian law, oblige Israel to comply with them, and prevent any attack on relief organizations and their employees who play a major humanitarian role in providing aid and services to the Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories.”